Failure to Plan

...is Planning to Fail. Ouch....right in my gut.

Here's the deal. I am not quite ready for it to be pretty much the end of January. I haven't picked out a calendar system to use for 2014. I haven't even spent any time really looking for something that will meet my do something different every single day lifestyle. Except for making sure I eat, routine is not my cup of tea.

I have come to the point that I quit making lists of things to do because I usually am just writing them on random pieces of paper that get shoved in a stack of papers that I never look at again until the pile starts getting in the way or gets so big that it won't stay piled. 

So this week, my goal is to get out of that rut. I need to spend some time working on a good calendar system that can keep all the segments of my life moving in positive directions.

I want to eventually have an all encompassing Home Management Binder system. That is on my ever growing do it one day list. I am finding the process of just finding printables that fit my needs is uber time consuming! One day I will have time to really browse and analyze all my options or make my own printables.

For now, I just need a central location to keep some lists, my personal calendar and some other organizational kinds of papers. Right now I write things down in various notebooks that get toted here and there and never make it back to the place where I need them, when I need them.

I am going to begin my notebook with the To Do Lists from DIY Home Sweet Home. She has some awesome free printables for putting together a Home Management binder. I will eventually use several of these, but for now, I need to get my To Do Lists under control!

I am going to keep using, I use the word keep very loosely since I haven't written a single thing in this calendar for over a month, a store bought daily calendar as a way to micro manage my To Do List and to plan out my daily activities. 

I like to have a calendar on the refrigerator so that everyone can see what is going on for the month since I am not the only person in my house who needs to be aware of where we need to be and when. I don't want to do double entries on a main calendar so we will keep using a calendar on the refrigerator. I actually just print a blank monthly calendar out each month and fill it in. 

Here is a link to the calendar page printables that I am currently using from Krafty Cards, Etc.

 

A few years ago, I started using Cozi on my phone, but without paying the monthly fee there were some functions that would have been helpful to me. You all know I am too cheap to pay a fee to use a calendar. I also have terrible service on my current phone so just pulling up the app was a frustrating ordeal.

Here's to hoping I can keep my calendar and my To Do Lists under some semblance of order.

What system do you use that seems to work for your family? I will take all the advice or leads to good tools that I can get. Happy Calendaring or To Do-ing!